Portland's John School Gives Men a Second Chance

Twenty men filed into a classroom at Portland Police Bureau's training facility on a Saturday morning, all facing the same choice. Complete this eight-hour program, or carry a criminal record for trying to buy sex.

Welcome to John School, officially called the Sex Buyers Accountability and Diversion Program. Like a DUI class, participants pay their own way and earn a clean record if they complete it.

But this isn't your typical diversion course. The nonprofit EPIK Project designed it around one powerful idea: you can't arrest your way out of the commercial sex trade.

"There are real human beings being traumatized multiple times every day," said Justin Euteneier, who works with EPIK Project. "It wouldn't exist if there was no demand."

The most powerful moment comes when participants sit across from women who survived trafficking themselves. Mary McAbe has told her story to dozens of these rooms.

She grew up in what she calls familial trafficking. Her parents were bikers who ran a shop on Sandy Avenue, Portland's oldest trafficking corridor, and she was trafficked for decades across the western United States.

A trafficker abandoned her when she discovered she was pregnant. That's when McAbe finally got out and started rebuilding, working at a gas station for $12 an hour after making $200 an hour selling sex.

Today, McAbe runs Brave Souls, a nonprofit she co-founded that helps trafficking survivors and people with schizophrenia navigating the court system. Telling her story still requires grace and compassion, she says, plus two years of therapy three days a week.

But she keeps doing it because of what it plants. "I think when they hear our side of it, and how we got into it, it's more impactful," McAbe said. "Maybe when they go out to purchase next time, they'll remember my story."

Why This Inspires

Euteneier doesn't believe statistics alone change behavior. He's seen transformation happen when men connect to their personal reasons for buying sex and hear directly from survivors about the reality behind the fantasy.

The program balances straight talk with compassion, holding men accountable while offering redemption. Participants also hear from police officers about the violence in the sex trade and from prosecutors about legal consequences if they're caught again.

McAbe's journey from survivor to advocate shows how trauma can transform into purpose. Her willingness to face rooms full of men who represent her past demonstrates extraordinary courage in service of preventing future harm.

Every Saturday, seeds of change get planted in that Portland classroom, one story at a time.